Comparison
Inground Light vs Underwater Light
Both fittings disappear into a surface and shine upward, and at a water feature's edge they can stand a metre apart. They are not interchangeable: one is built against soil, paving and traffic; the other against immersion.
The two positions
An underwater light sits below a waterline, sealed for continuous immersion — IP68 across the four underwater models — with a housing and glass specified for permanent submersion and water pressure at depth. An inground light sits in soil, gravel or paving, shining up through a walk-over or drive-over face. Its enemies are different: ground water pressing from outside, drainage that fails, soil movement, point loads from feet and wheels, and cable entries buried where they cannot be inspected. A fitting proven for one position has answered none of the other position's questions.
What can be compared today
| Underwater side | Four underwater models: IP68, SUS#316 housings, tempered glass T=10mm, IK08-IK10 impact ratings, beam angles 10°-45° by model |
|---|---|
| Inground side | No single inground model is specified; the category is handled by inquiry, with position, load and water exposure settled per project |
| Shared questions | Beam angle, colour and control are chosen the same way on both sides once the position questions are answered |
Choosing
If the fitting will be submerged, the route is the underwater lights range, full stop. If the fitting will be buried at a pool surround, a plaza or a path edge, start from the inground lights category and the inground inquiry guide, and let the quotation answer the load, drainage and protection questions in writing. At a paved waterline where both seem possible, state both exposures — spray from above, ground water from below — and have the chosen position confirmed in the quotation.
Confirm before ordering
State the exact installed position and everything that reaches it — immersion, ground water, traffic — and confirm the model and protection grade for that position in writing before ordering.
The paved waterline, argued both ways
The hardest position on a waterscape project is the fitting that sits in paving at the water's edge, washed by every splash and every cleaning round, with ground water behind it. Argued as an underwater fitting, it points to the immersion-sealed construction and the thick glass of the underwater models. Argued as an inground fitting, it points to load, drainage and cable sealing that no underwater specification covers. The professional answer is to refuse the either/or: specify the position in the inquiry with both exposures named, require the quotation to state which construction serves it and why, and hold that statement in the order documents. Positions at boundaries are where specifications earn their money.
Decision checklist
- Submerged in service? Underwater range, IP68.
- Buried, walked or driven over? Inground route: load case, drainage and protection Confirm the specification for your project in the inquiry.
- Both exposures at once? Name both in the inquiry; take the answer in writing.
- Beam, colour and control: chosen after the position is settled, from the available options.
What a buyer should take from an incomplete comparison
One side of this comparison is specified to the last gramme and the other is open. Hold the two sides to different standards: the underwater side can be quoted from its specifications today, while the inground side must earn its numbers inside your quotation, per project. When an inground quotation arrives, judge it by whether it answers the inground questions — load, drainage, sealing, access — with the same completeness as the underwater specifications. A quotation that does is a professional document whatever model it names; one that simply repeats immersion data at a buried position is not.